The Walking Drum (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Travelling across Europe and through the Byzantine wonders of Constantinople, the adventurer Kerbouchard encounters the passions and violence of an ancient world.

From the Publisher

Here is an historic adventure of extraordinary power waiting to sweep you away to exotic lands as one of the most popular writers of our time conquers new storytelling worlds. Louis L'Amour has been best known for his ability to capture the spirit and drama of the authentic American West. Now he guides his readers to an even more distant frontier -- the enthralling lands of the 12th century.

At the center of The Walking Drum is Kerbouchard, one of L'Amour's greatest heroes. Warrior, lover, scholar, Kerbouchard is a daring seeker of knowledge and fortune bound on a journey of enormous challenge, danger and revenge. Across the Europe, the Russian steppes and through the Byzantine wonder of Constantinople, gateway to Asia, Kerbouchard is thrust into the heart of the treacheries, passions, violence and dazzling wonders of a magnificent time. From castle to slave gallery, from sword-racked battlefields to a princess's secret chamber, and ultimately, to the impregnable fortress of the Valley of Assassins, The Walking Drum is a powerful adventure of an ancient world you will find every bit as riveting as Louis L'Amour's stories of the American West.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (April 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553280406
• ISBN-13: 978-0553280401
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,718 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Do NOT read if you have anything to do for thenext 12 hours., November 28, 1999

By	Gwen Kramer "gwenhwyvar" (Tehachapi, CA United States) - See all my reviews

One word to sum up this book. Addictive. Totally, completely, amazingly addictive. I was up till 1:00 am because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT! It just gets better with each reading. The period detail is fantastic. History teachers could certainly pick worse assignments although be warned, you may stand up your prom date because as stated before this book is impossible to put down!

Read it if you love any of the following:

History cool characters Love Swashbuckling Funny dialogue Fiendish villains (The guy at the end gets the prize as nastiest villain of ALL TIME)

Read it, you will never regret it although your prom date might.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of three books to profoundly influence my life, December 12, 1998

By A Customer

I was given this book for my twelveth birthday, and since then I have read it at least once a year. As a history major, I love to find books that reflect the truth of history in a beautiful and realistic way. Kerbouchard is a truly renaissance man who is on a quest to find his father, who may or may not be dead. In this quest, he travels mideval Europe, from the Christian lands of France to the Muslim lands of Spain and East to the steeps of Russia. What amazed me when I read this was that the middle ages were only the dark ages for western Europe; the Muslim lands were bright and alive and unoppressive. Kerbouchard's philosophy in life of learning for learning's sake is one I have adopted in my own travels through life.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "YOL BOLSUN! May there be a road!", October 6, 2005

By	Just Me "Angel of Music" (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This is the story of Mathurin Kerbouchard, a sailor/druid/horseman/student (most of all...lol) and defender of all that is good in Moorish Spain (Very interesting period in itself.) and elsewhere.

I find the story very similar to others that L'amour has done (some of them quite well) but this is the best. The all encompasing man view that he likes to have about his characters is even more interesting in this, where knowledge, if anything, is more of a tool even than skill with "a blade."

This will bring to bud within you a desire to read, to contemplate, to sit in a tea house in the streets of Cordoba and enjoy thoughs...to rage across a plain on a beautiful Arabian mare, characteristic of the most precious breeding of any age...decend deep into ancient underground staircases seeking an escape from hunters...even relish the taste of water on lips almost too long parched, believing (perhaps truthfully) that you have never enjoyed something more...Anotherwards, It's a good read! Nothing too heavy, it had much the same effect on me as the Harry Potter series: just wanted to read it, nothing more. There isn't a wealth of knowledge here, just enough to make it rather interesting.

Oh, yes, I particularly liked the part where the Bedouin boy speaks to Kerbouchard about the Syrian(?) camels. These are creatures much too forgoten in fiction. The camel is a creature just as worthy (or more) than a horse.


It's better than three stars, but four was a bit of a stretch...

Other recommended readings by this author: West from Singapore (Short stories about sailor/Captain "Ponga" Jim Mayo), The Haunted Mesa (about Anasazi mythology...very interesting. Here, according to my aunts who spent several years working for a native Anasazi, L'amour does his homework), and The Last of the Breed (about an American (Irish-Soux) pilot captured on a test flight, believed dead, and forced to attempt to flee a USSR prison and the brutalities of the Siberian climate alone). These are the four best L'amour books, in my and my family's opinion.